If it was me, I would let him use it. It will mean much more to him and any grandchild if it had real memories than if it just becomes a safe queen. Scratches are part of the story.
Velocity ladders are great way to work up loads quickly. Something seems off on this one - Wrong powder? Wrong range? Problem with powder scale? Wrong bullet? I would try again with a different powder and work up from the median loading book load up to max load. I would also check the powder...
...but then live with the recoil and muzzle rise you chose. Don’t divert your recoil into powder blast in my face. I am a big fan of you do you until you make your problem into my problem. Basic courtesy. Nothing unmanly about being responsible for your own sh*t and expecting others to do the same.
Who knows if they are even legal in 20 yrs. I would guess the long term trajectory is not good for gun owners.
But for now, better to enjoy hearing safe shooting today than to worry about an unknown future.
I really like bergara premier actions and tikkas. Both are smooth, both have really good factory triggers and both are very accurate. I have multiples of each - can’t go wrong with either.
The answer is to move the Raiders back to Oakland. And then have every team's "17th game" be in the Vegas stadium, a neutral site. It would be a huge windfall for NFL & vegas as 16 weekends a year as the fans of the two teams would flood the city -- maybe even play this as all of the Thursday...
With my old doubles (this being the 3rd) I am following @BrentD's advice and shooting RST shells which are gentle on older guns. But they are stupid expensive -- but I only shoot at 10-12 birds a year so not a big deal in the big picture.
Choke work definitely on the action plan.